Second Chances
by Araya-Michiru
Summary: Trying to leave her past behind, a girl searches for a future, will she find it in Smallville?
1. Arrival in Smallville

Hi! This is my first Smallville fanfic ever so please go easy on me. Umm… I warn that any updates may not happen quickly. My computer isn't working and I won't get it back for a couple more weeks (Never get a Fujitsu!!) So right now I'm using my roommates comp while she's away. Please enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own them sadly, but what I wouldn't give for my own Lex.

A new life, new people, and who knows, maybe even a new family.

"Smallville!" the driver hollered from his seat. A few people moved off the bus, many returning home from trips to Metropolis. One person however, was here for a whole other reason. She was here to start anew and to forget her past. She pulled her bag up on her shoulder, ignoring the pain in her arms. "Damn burns," she muttered under her breath. 

The bus pulled away kicking up dirt and dust. Many headed for their cars or were greeted by awaiting family. She didn't have either. "First things first," she thought, "I need coffee!"

She wandered down the small streets, thinking how different Smallville was from Metropolis. She had lived so close to this town her whole life and never once had she bothered to come here. She looked up reading a sign, "Best cappuccino's in town!" and above that the building name, "The Talon." 

"Coffee!"

The building was quaint, beautifully decorated but not very busy given the time. Eight in the morning on a Saturday, "Not a time I prefer to be awake." She sat down and saw a girl her age approach her. "Hi, what can I get for you?" she asked. "Coffee, light and sweet please," she responded. The girl nodded and returned to the counter. A few moments later she returned, "Here you are, anything else?"

"Actually, may I ask you something?" the girl asked. "Of course."

Reaching in her pocket she pulled out a picture. "Do you by any chance recognize this man, he'd be about twenty years older now, but I'm afraid it's the only picture I have." 

The waitress studied the picture, "Sorry, I don't recognize him. Are you sure he lives here?" She shook her head, "I really don't know. He's family I haven't seen in a really long time, I'm just trying to find him. I know this is where he and his..wife..were originally from, I don't know if they stayed here or not."

"Let me give you the address of a friend of mine. His family has lived here a long time and they pretty much know everyone," she said.

"Thanks…uhh.."

"Lana, Lana Lang," she said extending her hand. "Thank you Lana, I'm Abby," she said accepting the girls hand. "Here you are," she said handing over the address. "Thanks."

After paying for her coffee she left and headed for the address on the paper. There was nothing but farm land for miles, "This is so nice, it's beautiful, it's quiet, everything Metropolis isn't." She finally saw the sign she was looking for, "The Kent Farm."

"This must be the place," she noted and headed towards the yellow house. Looking about she didn't see anybody.

"Maybe they're still asleep, then again it's farm country, they could've been up for hours." She stood outside the house debating whether to go in or not. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she barely noticed the car that pulled up. "Can I help you?" asked a young man as he stepped out of a pricey red Ferrari. "Do you…" she trailed off when she noticed who it was. 

"Lex?" she asked uncertain. " Miss Mullins, this is a surprise," he said getting a cocky grin on his face. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I should be asking you the same question. These people are friends of mine, I was dropping by to talk to Clark. Yourself?"

"A girl at the coffee shop in town gave me this address, said they might be able to help me find someone," she explained.

"Oh really and who might that be?"

"Just some family," she said getting annoyed with his questions.

"That's right, I heard. I'm sorry. They also said you were hurt, you seem to be in pretty good condition though," he said with actual sympathy. She dropped her bag and rolled up her sleeves. From her wrists to her elbows was completely wrapped up in gauze. "The burns were minor, barely hurts," she told him. "I also heard what happened to your father," she continued. Lex nodded, "He's getting better, I explained how he was using his blindness as a weakness and that he'd better get over it. That's half the reason I'm here. My father can take up a good deal of space, I've gotten accustomed to having to step out from time to time."

"Lex!" came a voice from the porch. "Clark, how are you?" he asked. "Fine, what brings you here. Are you throwing someone out?" he asked looking at the girl and her luggage. "Clark this is a business acquaintance of mine. I discovered her standing outside your house," he explained. "Hi, I'm Abby. A girl, Lana, gave me your address, I'm trying to find someone and she said that your family knows pretty much everyone and might be able to help me." Clark nodded, "Well, come in and I'll get my mom, she would know."

Abby picked up her bag and followed him into the house. Mrs. Kent came downstairs to greet her guests. "Hi Lex."

"Hello Mrs. Kent."

"Well dear, lets see what I can do to help you," she said moving over to Abby.

Lex and Clark went out into the barn to leave the two alone.

"Lex, you seemed bothered by something, care to share?" Clark asked.

"Abby, I'm just wondering who she's trying to find. She said family but as far as I know her parents were her only family, I thought she was adopted," he said thinking mainly to himself. "What do you mean were?" Clark asked.

"Her parents died about a month ago, horrible fire, destroyed the house. Her parents died in the fire, having become trapped in their room. Abby managed to escape, with just some burns on her arms," Lex explained. "That's horrible," was all Clark could come up with. "Yes, but now she's probably almost half as rich as me. Her parents owned Mullins Software, they made a lot of money, my dad owns a great deal of their shares. She inherited everything."

"And it only cost me everything," came a voice from behind. 

"Thanks Lex, I think everyone needs to know what goes on in my life," she told him. "It's just basic information, nothing that wasn't published in the news papers," he replied. 

The stare down continued until Clark decided to intervene, "So were you able to figure out anything?" he asked. "No, your parents didn't recognize him. I don't know where else to look," she said sadly. "Come by the high school on Monday. My friend Chloe has a knack for these things, I'm sure she could help you. Say three o'clock," he suggested. "Great, I'll be there. Now, one last thing. Does this town even have a motel?" she asked.

"Not that I'm familiar with, Clark?" Lex asked. "No, I can't say we do, no one usually comes here to visit. And if they do they know people."

"Great I'll be sleeping in the bus station tonight," she thought. 

"Just come stay with me," Lex suggested. "You know I have the room."

"Just what I want, to spend the night at the Luthor household. But I guess I don't have much of a choice now do I?" she retorted. "Well then, let's get you back to my place. I'll see you later Clark."

"Bye Lex, nice meeting you Abby."

"Same."

The drive was quiet, neither one exactly wished to speak to the other. They pulled up and Lex opened the trunk. Being gentlemanly he took her bag, "This is all you have?" he asked. "Well it's not like much survived the fire Lex. And for your information, I came here to get away from what happened. I don't need you telling everybody about my sorry life," she berated. 

"I don't believe I put it that way."

He moved upstairs and opened a door, "You can use this room, I'll send someone to make up the bed."

"I'm capable of making my own bed, just tell me where the linens are," she told him.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" he said grabbing her wrist. She flinched at the slight contact. "Exactly."

He let go and moved away. 

"There's a bathroom through that door, kitchen is on the first floor, so is my study and the library. Feel free to explore, lunch should be fairly soon," he explained. She nodded, "I'm going to freshen up, I'll see you at lunch," then headed into the bathroom. Lex shook his head and went into the hallway opening up a closet. He pulled out a towel and washcloth and headed back into her room, "Here, you might want these." He almost dropped the towels, Abby had unwound the bandages revealing her burns. "Don't you knock?" she asked. "Not when I live here," he explained.

While he hadn't said anything or had made any reaction, Abby could feel his eyes on her, looking at her arms. She was feeling rather, uncomfortable. "Lex, you can just leave them, thank you." Lex realized what he had done, "I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright, I know how it looks."

"How it looks is painful, shouldn't you still be in the hospital, or at least being treated?" he asked.

"Careful Lex, you're actually beginning to sound like you care." He gave a small smirk, "You didn't answer my question, let me guess, they don't know you've even left."

"Why does it matter?" 

"Well, it would explain why you really didn't want me saying anything about who you were. And also now I'm hiding an escaped patient."

"Lex, you make me sound like I'm an escaped mental patient. And I'm not hiding, but what I told you earlier is the real truth. I'm not here to hide, I'm here to forget. Now, please, may I take my bath in peace?" she asked.

"What you don't want me here?" he asked slyly.

"Good-bye Lex" she said hiding a blush that managed to crawl up her face.

"I'll see you at lunch," with that he left. 

Monday came without much excitement. Abby and Lex got along as much as possible, but he had his work to keep him fairly busy and Abby chose to be alone and make some phone calls regarding her new position. As heiress to her families business it was now her job to run it. While there were many against the idea, many of the shareholders and CEO's approved of her decision. While she would be in charge of the company, she had left it up to certain people to keep it in running order while she would attend the meetings and sign the documents, approve new ideas as every major decision was to be run by her first. 

Lex dropped her off at the school shortly before three on his way to the Talon to retrieve some paperwork. Abby wandered into the school as the bell rung. Students filed out of rooms as fast as possible, making Abby more lost than she really wanted to be. "Abby!" came a female voice. "Lana, hi!" she said happy to see a familiar face. "What brings you here?" she asked. "Clark told me to come meet him at the school today. He said that a friend of his, Chloe, I think, might be able to help me."

"Come on, Chloe will be at work, I'll show you where," Lana offered. "Great, thanks."

They reached a door marked "The Torch" and Lana walked in to see the young reporter already at her desk working feverishly away on her newest story. Clark stood behind her, watching what she was writing. "Hey Lana, Abby, glad you made it."

"Well, trust me it wasn't your directions that got me here. You neglected to tell me where exactly to meet you," she told him.

"Sorry, Chloe this is Abby," Clark said grabbing the blondes attention. "Hi, Clark told me you were coming let's see this picture," she said walking over to Abby. Abby gave her the picture and she headed over to a stack of books. "If he lived in Smallville he must have gone to school here, everyone does," she said dryly. "I snatched a bunch of the old yearbooks from twenty to thirty years ago. So between the few of us we should be able to get through the twelve of them relatively fast," she explained.

"This is great, I would never have thought to do such a thing. Thank you guys so much," she said.   
"No problem, let's start looking."

After about half an hour of searching Chloe came across a picture that seemed to match. "This looks like him, the picture you have his hair is a little thinner but it still looks pretty much the same," she explained handing the book over to Abby. She took her picture and held it up to the yearbook picture, "I think so too, can you find me anything else about him?" she asked. Chloe looked at the name again and searched her computer. 

While she was doing that Clark looked over the picture, "The hair, the eyes, they look so similar, she said they were family but that's a pretty strong resemblance," he thought. 

"Here you go!" Chloe announced when she came up with something. Abby moved to the computer and looked over the screen.

"Michael Wilkens, head captain of the football team his senior year, attended Metropolis University, currently a Neurological Surgeon at Metropolis Medical," she read off.   
"Wow, that's amazing," remarked Lana. Abby thought so too, if Chloe could find all that then maybe…

"So Chloe, can you, like, look up anything on here?" 


	2. Bologna and Jelly Sandwiches

Yea! New chapter! I got this one out faster than planned, thank god for three day weekends. (Which suck when you can't go home by the way) Thanks for the reviews! BTW: I don't have this story exactly planned out so if I contradict myself in anyway I apologize. I just saw Sorority Boys for the first time, I like Lex without his hair! Sexy! 

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em sadly.

After an hour, Abby was able to get all the information she could without giving away her true intentions. "They don't need to know, not yet," she thought. She had a name, an address, family history, birth certificate, and the one piece she needed the most. "Metropolis Medical, we were in the same building, I could've passed him in the hallway at any point, I don't believe it!" she thought. Clark gave her a lift back to Lex's, "Thanks for the help Clark."

"No problem, I hope everything works out."

"Me too."

She pulled her coat around her a little tighter, the cold breeze invading her warmth. She walked into the house noting it wasn't much warmer than outside. Heading into the study she saw Lex standing in front of the fire, a glass of wine in his hand. "You know Lex, turning on the heat wouldn't kill you, it is December you know," she chided. "That's what the fireplace is for, saves money," he smirked. "Since when does a Luthor worry about paying the heating bill?"

He ignored her and took another sip of his wine, Abby moved and sat in front of the fire place. "Any luck?" he asked finally. "Some, enough for now, I'll have to go back to Metropolis soon," she said. He nodded and took another sip, "I have to go in on Wednesday, if you want to wait I'll give you a ride." Abby just nodded, "I have to go make some phone calls, I'll see you at dinner," she excused herself. "And turn up the heat, would ya?" she called over her shoulder before leaving. 

__

Somewhere in Metropolis…

Dark blue eyes looked over the papers once again, anger clouding the usual serene eyes. "How could you lose her?" he demand to the trembling man in front of him. "Well, we didn't lose her she ran off, I mean I don't know how but she did," he fumbled with the words. "You're lucky you still have your head! I'll clean this up, you find out where she might have gone, phone records, credit or bank transactions, do what you must just find her!" The man nodded, bowing before he left, "Yes sir, I'll find her I promise."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "If she went to the police they would've notified me by now, where would she go? She's got no family, no one that she could go to without my knowing. That bumbling fool, how could she get out without my knowing? When I find her, I'll rectify my little problem."

*************

Lex entered the kitchen to find Abby tearing through the kitchen. "Can I help you?" She pulled her head out of the cabinet and climbed off the counter. "Grape Jelly?" she asked. He walked over to the other side and pulled it out. She took the jar and completed her sandwich, "Is that bologna?" he asked disgusted. "Yea, want some?" she asked extending the sandwich. "No thank you." He put away the few things she left out, "You do know dinner's in an hour," he stated. She nodded, her mouth full. "I can't help it I'm hungry," she finally managed. "Uh-huh," he said still looking at her strangely as she enjoyed her sandwich, "Do you still want to go in on Wednesday?" he continued. "Yea, I think that'll be fine, I need to go back to the hospital to tie up some loose ends," she told him. "You mean to tell them why you ran away."

"I didn't run away, Lex. You assumed I did, I just never corrected you." With that she put her dish in the sink and left him.

She flopped down on her bed, her peace interrupted by her ringing cell phone. She pulled it out, "Hello?"

"Abigail, wherever have you gone? Who said you could leave me?" came the voice.

"Leave me alone!"

"I'm hurt, I thought you loved me. After what we've been through…"

"You killed them!"

"Purely accident, they weren't supposed to be there, but you were."

"Why?"  
"You know very well why! You defied me! You'll be the embarrassment of the community and you'll take me down with you! I won't allow it! All you had to do was say 'Yes, I'll marry you' and we wouldn't have any of these little troubles now would we?" 

"Stay away from me, I'm not going to say anything."

"Do you think people will be that stupid, we were together for two years, they'll know."

"Then I'll deny it! Just let me be, let me have my life!"

"Not unless I'm in it. Your life is mine, we are tied together for ever, and I won't be denied."

The phone clicked off, Abby slumped off the bed unsure of what to do. She couldn't face anyone right now, not Lex. She grabbed a sweater to hide her arms, her coat and scarf and took off for town. "Dinner's ready," he said poking his head into her room. "Abby?" No response. He headed down to dinner and sat and waited for her to come. 

Abby wandered through town, people were stopping off at places to eat, shops were closing up. She stopped off at the Talon, Lana was running around from table to table. "Hi Lana," she called stopping the girl in her tracks. "Hi, umm, I'm really sorry but things are crazy…"

"Do you want help?" she interrupted.

"I'll be your best friend for life," Lana joked. "Let me go grab a pencil and paper and I'll get started," Abby said. "I owe you."

"Well, that's the last of 'em," Lana stated putting the final chair up for the night. Abby finished cleaning up behind the counter, "Lana, I don't know how you do this day in and out," she commented. "It's the price I pay for wanting to keep this place intact. Lex wanted to destroy this place, it took a lot of work but I convinced him not to," she said. "How come?"

"This is where my parents met, I didn't want to see those memories torn down and turned into a parking garage." She noticed the unsure look on Abby's face, "They were killed in the meteor shower."

"I'm sorry."  
"Don't be, you couldn't have known. How about your family?" she asked

"My parents were killed in a fire not to long ago," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, you couldn't have know either. They weren't my biological parents though, I was adopted."

Lana thought for a minute, "So that man in the picture, is he?"

She nodded, "He's my father, far as I know. I found the documents in a safe box after the fire, there was an envelope that had my records in it. It only had the documents my parents signed not the ones from the adoption agency. The picture I showed you I cut from the original. See, his arms cut off, right next to him was 'baby' me. One of the things Chloe was able to come across was an adoption record with his signature on it, however, I'll say my mom didn't have as clear of writing. So once I find him I can find out who my mom is too." She put the picture away. 

"How come you didn't say anything earlier?" Lana asked. "There are a lot of things in my life that aren't what I wish they would be. And there are people who would use that against me," she paused, "and anyone who might get in their way."

Lana placed her hand over Abby's, "If you want to talk I'm here. C'mon, let me give you a ride back to Lex's," she said grabbing her coat and keys. Abby got her things and followed her.

When she got inside she noticed the light still on in the dining room, Lex sat in his chair his plate empty and her's full. "I'm sorry, I didn't, you shouldn't have waited."

"But it's the polite thing to do. It's also polite to tell your host you won't be attending dinner or that you're leaving and won't be back until, 11," he said eyeing his watch. "I'm sorry, I went into town and Lana was really busy so I helped her and I totally forgot about the time and...wait…why am I even explaining to you?" 

"Because you're sorry for keeping me waiting and making me worry?" he asked. "Worried?"  
"I suggest heating up your dinner if you're still hungry, I'm going to bed," he rose and left the room. She grabbed her plate and went into the kitchen putting the cold food into the microwave. "Life sucks."

* A note on the sandwich… Yum Yum. (It's been years since I've had one, but it's good, my grandpa used to make 'em for me. I think he still eats 'em. I fear getting strange looks in the d.c. for making one ^_^ ) 


	3. Spilt Coffee

Chapter 3, yea!!!

And I just got word that my comp is fixed (does a happy dance). Of course, I still won't get it until I go home for Thanksgiving. Anywho….Enjoy the chapter, I plan for a surprise in the next one! Hehe….

Disclaimer: Do you really care?

A noise invaded her deep, quiet slumber. She rolled over to discover the source was her cell phone. Checking the screen she was relieved to see that the number was Lana's, having given the girl her number the night before. 

"Morning," she mumbled.

"Morning Abby, I'm sorry to wake you."

"No, no its alright. What's the matter?"

"One of the girls who was supposed to work today just came up to me and told me she couldn't make it, so I was wondering…"

"If I would help out tonight? Sure Lana, no prob."

"Thanks so much, eep! I gotta go, bell just rang I'm late for class, see ya at 4!"

The phone clicked off and Abby set it back down before rolling back over to sleep.

"So you've had that girl living here for a while now haven't you Lex?" Lionel Luthor asked as he sat by the desk. "She's heading back to Metropolis tomorrow. I kindly offered her a place to stay since Smallville seems lacking in hotels. Perhaps that should be my next venture," he thought. 

"Son, no one in their right mind would come to visit Smallville except for those strange people with their extra-terrestrial mumbo-jumbo. Coming here just to check out the meteor sights and ask pointless questions," he laughed. 

Lex smiled, though his father wouldn't know. A lot of strange people came here with their devices and theories as to what really happened and who was the cause of it. 

"Mr. Luthor, your ride is here," a man announced from the doorway. Lionel stood up, gaining his bearings. "I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow Lex, don't fail me. This is an extremely important meeting," he reminded his son. "Nothing to fear, father, I'll be there."

The man helped Lionel Luthor out the room and to the waiting chopper. Lex would wait and drive in tomorrow with Abby, like promised. He glanced at his watch, 9:30, time to wake her up. Abby was less happy with the sound that greeted her. She knew it was Lex, he wanted to eat breakfast, and he was too polite to go ahead without her. "But not polite enough to wake me nicely apparently," she thought. "Are you up?"

"No! Now go away!"

The door opened, "What part of 'go away' didn't you understand?" she asked pulling the pillow over her head. 

"I understood, I just chose to ignore it."

"You better get that smirk off your face."

She was beginning to know him too well. "Just get up, you'll be less cranky with food in you."

"What makes you think I'm cranky? You have yet to see cranky Luthor."

He smiled, "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes. I suggest you be down there."

He left the room and Abby chucked the pillow at the closed door. 

She stumbled into the dining room still dressed in her pajama's. "We're leaving at ten tomorrow if that's not too early for you," he told her. "Fine."

They ate in silence for the better part of the meal

"I'm sorry about last night."

Lex looked up to see Abby with her head down, ashamed to meet his eyes. "I shouldn't have taken it as seriously as I did, I don't know what came over me."

Abby looked up, "You were worried, I'm sorry I made you worry."

Lex didn't know how to answer that one, in truth he was worried, not that he was going to admit to it again. "Forget it happened. I don't want our ride together to be awkward, three hours in a car is a long time for a quiet ride."

She nodded. 

"I'm working at the Talon again tonight, so you needn't wait for me to eat dinner. Lana's short handed, she called and asked me earlier."

Lex nodded, "I'll have the cook save you something."

That turned out to be the extent of conversation for the day. Lex had his work preparing for the upcoming meeting tomorrow with his father. 

Lex always dreaded these days. He would sit there under his fathers scrutinizing gaze (blind or not) while he would criticize anything he said or did. The other members of the board, his fathers paid 'yes men' would nod in approval of anything he said. Lex's hard work to prove himself to his father would be shot down and made pointless as in the end it would become a war of words and morals. His fathers devious mind would turn around anything he would say into a weakness of character. 

There was no way out of it, so he learned to deal with it. He accepted his father for who he was and knew he would never change. But that didn't mean he had to be like him.

It was three o' clock when Abby left the Luthor mansion. She turned down Lex's offer of a ride, deciding to walk to allow him more time to work. She found it odd that she used to avoid Lex so much and now here she was staying with him. She remembered having to go to meetings with her father now and then. All of the kids would be in one room, many running around having fun, playing with toys, things most kids do. Lex used to be like that, especially when he was much younger. She was a few years younger than him, barely able to speak, but the memory was there. 

Then there was the meteor shower, she didn't see him for a while after that. Next time she saw him, he would sit in the corner, sometimes looking out the window or doing homework or reading. She remembered how the kids would taunt him, especially the younger ones who didn't understand or who were just following along. She tried talking to him, but he wouldn't listen, he didn't care to talk to anyone anymore. After that she refused to be near him, to have anything to do with him. It was hard, their fathers being in business with each other, but they still refused to speak to one another. As they grew older they would at least exchange pleasantries, but now things were different. It was as if all of that was behind them now. 

She watched her breath mingle with the air, the cold was starting to get to her. Flurries were sparse, but they fell, creating a nice wintry scene. Christmas would come soon, "My first Christmas alone." 

The Talon was just ahead, she was a good twenty minutes early but she knew Lana would appreciate it. The Talon was extremely busy, everyone coming in from the cold for a nice hot coffee or chocolate. School was out for the day, many of the customers looked like highschoolers to her. She laughed to herself, she was only a few years older than them, here she was saying how young they were. In truth she felt older than her years. 

Lana rushed over to her, "Thank God!" she said grabbing her arm. "Things are crazy! Even with the three of us here, we can barely keep up, there're people standing, no more places to sit." Abby could hear the desperateness in her voice for help, yet she could hardly miss the excited look on her face at the amount of customers. "I'll get started, let's hope we don't run out of anything."

Abby couldn't remember the last time she felt this tired. It was already 8 o'clock and she hadn't sat down at all. She hadn't eaten since noon and she was starving. "Excuse me can I get a refill?" someone called out. "Coming!" she went to the counter and grabbed a pot searching for the table that had wanted more. The room spun and the pot felt extremely heavy, she felt it slipping from her hand before it clattered to the floor spilling its contents. "Abby!" Lana called from behind the counter. Abby never heard her as she crumpled to the floor. "Abby!"


	4. Bundle of Surprise

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm sooo happy!! ^__^ 

I had to get this out, I wrote it in my head during my Linguistics class because my teacher taught us about lexical semantics and lexicons and all I could think about was Lex!

Hope you all enjoy the next chapter and Happy Turkey- Day!

~A.M.

Lex sat in a sterile room of the Smallville hospital. No one had come to tell him what was wrong, so he was forced to wait. Lana had called him up that night and told him what had happened. Lex dropped everything and hurried over to the hospital. Lana couldn't leave work so that meant he had to go.

He looked over his shoulder as a doctor entered the room. "Mr. Luthor, sorry to keep you waiting. I'm going to need you to fill out what you can on here for me, were still waiting on her records from Metropolis, as soon as we have them we'll have a better idea of her situation."

Lex looked over the papers quickly, "What do you think caused it?" he asked. 

"In my official opinion, her exhaustion was brought on by a lack of rest and food from what Miss Lang told the medics when they arrived earlier. Plus with what has happened in the past couple months she is probably both mentally and physically exhausted. She just needs rest. Once we have her records we can see if there is anything else that might have brought this on."

Lex thanked her as she left the room. It was already ten o'clock, how much longer was it going to take to get the records. He felt the time tick by slowly, "How much longer is this going to take?"

Lex left around one in the morning, the nurses told him he would have to come back in the morning. He finally gave up and left, returning early in the morning before he was scheduled to leave for Metropolis. A different doctor from the night before approached him, "We've got her records and I looked over them. We ran some tests on her earlier and everything is fine, she needs to rest more, eat properly, but that's about it. Her first trimester has been rather difficult for her and her doctor in Metropolis had ordered her to rest as much as possible. They apparently didn't know that she had left for Smallville," he explained. 

It took Lex a moment to process all the information, "Trimester?" he asked. 

"She hasn't said anything?" he asked. Lex shook his head.

"She's about two and half months pregnant."

If Lex hadn't had as much experience as he's had with surprises, he would have probably lost his composer. "She never said anything, I never even read about it in the papers."

"I'm certain it was something she didn't want spread. From my knowledge the father wasn't exactly thrilled, I don't even think her parents knew," he explained. Lex nodded, totally unsure how to handle the situation. He went into the room and sat down next to the bed. Abby stirred and turned over to face him, "Lex, what're you doing here?" she asked. "Lana called me last night and told me what happened, I was here last night but you didn't wake up so I decided to stop through on my way to Metropolis. How do you feel?" he asked. 

"I feel fine, the doctors just told me that I need to rest more. That I was working myself to hard with everything that's happened," she said.

"Yes, a woman in your condition shouldn't be moving about so much."

Her surprise was almost concealed, but he caught it. "So they told you?"

"Yes, now why didn't you tell me, or any of us for that matter?"

"Wasn't your business, besides I was leaving today, I might not have been back so why would it have mattered?"

"Well, it explains the strange sandwiches," he joked.

"Not really, I've been eating them all my life."

He smiled slightly, "I have to go to Metropolis now, but when you want to go here's the number and my driver will bring you in," he said handing her a card. "Thanks Lex."

"I'll see you around. You better keep me updated!" he joked before leaving the room. 

******

"Dr. Xavier, a moment of your time please," called the man as he entered the office. "Mr. Donaldson, what can I do for you?"

"I can't find Abigail anywhere, I was wondering if you've heard from her lately. I've been worried," he stated. "Actually, we just heard from a doctor over at Smallville Medical. Apparently she passed out yesterday, she's well, but I have no idea why she went out there, do you?"

"No, no I don't."

*******

Abby was allowed to leave a few hours later; the Kents had practically forced it upon her to come stay with them. After she got her things from Lex's she went home with them where Mrs. Kent restricted her to the couch all day. She had confessed the real reason behind her passing out to the Kent's and Lana. Lana and Mrs. Kent were ecstatic, going on and on about babies and names. 

"Well how come we never noticed, your clothes aren't big and baggy or anything so why wouldn't we notice?" Clark asked. The women rolled their eyes, "Clark, she's not far enough along, there's a tiny bulge but not enough to readily assume she's pregnant. She'll start showing a lot more real soon. Besides, not all women show real easily," his mom explained. 

"Oh. Well is it a boy or a girl?" he asked. 

"I don't know, I have to wait until the first trimester is over, then they can tell me. But I'm not sure I want to know."

"I think it should be a surprise, it's more exciting that way," Lana said. 

Lana and Abby talked until Lana had to leave to go to work, "Too bad I won't have company working tonight, I'll stop by tomorrow before work," she said leaving. 

"Okay, see you later."

Sitting in front of the television for most of a day was not something Abby was used to. "Wow, television is messed up." She finally settled on some old cartoons. She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the contents. It was the card Lex had given her. She knew she would have to go to Metropolis soon, real soon. It was only a matter of time until 'he' would find her. Plus, she wanted to meet the man who might possibly be her real biological father. 

Lana had told her the story of her approaching the man she felt was possibly her real father. Abby was scared and excited; Would he accept her? Would he even care? What would happen afterwards? Would they find out but go their separate ways or would he play a big part in her life?

No one would replace her parents, they adopted her, gave her a home, a family and a sound financial future.

However…now, she was a parentless, 21 year old single pregnant woman without a home.  She let her hand settle on the small bulge off her stomach. "I hope you'll never be like your father," she silently prayed. 

Sorry for it being so short! I'll try and get another one out really soon!!!

Press the little button…

You know you wanna…


	5. Explanations

I know the last one was short, so here's another!

It's snowing….a lot….yea! (But I still have to walk to class in it….)

And I overheard something about 27 trays stolen from the d.c. to be used as makeshift sleds….

^__^

There's a lot of explaining that goes on in this chapter, hopefully it makes everything more understandable. Enjoy!

~AM

            An expensive black convertible pulled up along the curb, stopping outside of the Talon. Stepping out in his Armani suit, the young man seemed rather out of place in the small farm town. However, his clothes alone were not what drew attention. Many would say he was quite handsome. Bright blue eyes, blond hair, all on a perfectly chiseled face, while standing up to a height of 6'5", made him stand out amongst the crowd. 

"Why would she be here, there's nothing here but farm people. Hardly worth our time," he said to his companion. Another man, shorter with a small gotee stepped out of the car. 

"I don't know boss, but we'll find her, there can't be that many places to hide."

"We'll ask in here," he said pulling out a photo, "someone's bound to have seen her. I don't know why the hospital wouldn't tell me where she is. They obviously have no idea of who I am."

The other man hurried ahead and opened the door, "How quaint, seems to be lacking something don't you think so?"

"Taste, sir?" The man laughed, he spotted a young woman at the counter and approached her. "Excuse me miss."

Lana looked up from her delivery records to see the man addressing her. His appearance rivaled that of Lex Luthors, rich, yet Lex seemed more…. pleasant. 

"How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for someone, perhaps you've seen her?" he asked handing her a picture. "Well if this isn't déjà vu," she thought. She looked over the picture; it was a couple, this man and Abby. Who would be looking for her? 

"There are a lot of things in my life that aren't what I wish they would be. And there are people who would use that against me," she paused, "and anyone who might get in their way."

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her, I'm sure I would've too it's a small town," Lana lied.

The man looked her over for a minute, he took the picture back, "Thank you, sorry to have bothered you."

"It's no bother at all."

  
The men left; as soon as Lana was sure they were gone she reached for her phone and dialed Abby's number.

Abby grabbed her cell phone as it buzzed its way across the coffee table. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Abby."

"Oh, hey Lana, what's up? If you need help I'll be there in a second if I can sneak away," she joked.

"Abby, there were two men here looking for you. I told them I didn't see you but I'm not totally sure if they believed me or not."

"Was he tall, blond hair, blue eyes, stick up his ass?"

Lana laughed slightly, "Yes. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Bad, definitely. Okay, um… look, I'll give you a call later, I'm gonna get out of here."

"Okay, be careful."  
 "Thanks Lana, bye."

She pulled out the card Lex had given her and hoped that it would pull through. 

"Well, she's not here, where do we go now?" the man asked.

"She was lying, Abigail's here, I know it. We'll have to look elsewhere."

Abby sat in the back of the limo, happy that the driver would take her just like Lex said. She was a good hour into the ride, hoping that they had gotten through without anyone giving her away. Yeah, she had met people; they would obviously recognize her and not know to not say anything. She hoped that she was far enough ahead.

She didn't know what she was going to do when she got to Metropolis. She didn't have anywhere to go, credit card records would be easy enough for him to get a hold of if she stayed at a hotel. Smallville would've been cheap enough to pay for in cash, but not in Metropolis. "I can't believe I'm even thinking about doing this."

"Abby, I was surprised to hear from you so soon." Lex greeted her as she walked into his office. "Well, I hadn't planned on it, but something came up."

"Why do I have the feeling that you're not here just to say hi?" he asked.

All he got was an impish smile in return.

Half an hour later she stood in the livingroom of Lex's apartment. Of course to anyone else, this wouldn't be an apartment. It was the size of a house, on the 40th floor of a building. "Thanks Lex, I appreciate this."

"If I remember correctly, just a couple days ago you were telling me how you'd probably never see any of us again."

"Things happen," she stated.

"What sort of things? Seems to me there are a lot of things that you don't seem to want to share," he commented. 

"You never tell me anything, what's it matter?"

He just sent her a look and the conversation was dropped. "C'mon, I'll show you to your room."

Abby settled in and took out her phone. 

"Hello?" came the voice on the other end.

"Lana, it's Abby."

"Where are you? Clark said you left his house hours ago."

"I'm in Metropolis, at Lex's."

There was a pause.

"Oh really?" Abby rolled her eyes. Lana was reading into the situation far more than necessary. "Yes really. I needed a place to stay that wouldn't give away that I'm here. Listen, I'm going to take care of some things here for a while. I should be done in a few days, I'm not certain what I'm going to do after that, but I'll call you and let you know what's up."

Lana's voice took on a more serious tone, "What about that guy, how much trouble is he? Maybe you should tell Lex, I'm sure he would have some sort of security or something."

"He's a lot of trouble, but I'm gonna have to deal with him at some point."

"Abby, the picture he showed me, it was of you and him. Is he?"

"Yea, I got to go, bye Lana."

"Bye."

Abby sighed, laying down on the large bed and pulled the picture out of her pocket.

"First things first."

She went downstairs and found a phonebook; looking up the name Chloe had gotten her. She came across it and found the phone number and address. "First thing tomorrow I'll go find him."

"There you are," came Lex's voice startling her out of her thoughts. "I went up to your room but you weren't there."

"Yea, sorry. I just needed to look something up. What did you need?"

"Actually I came to see if you wanted to go get dinner. Mr. Chu's, I never pass up a chance to go there when I'm in town."

Abby laughed, "Somehow I can't see you eating Chinese food in a tiny takeout place like that. But you're right, it's the best around."

"So then you'll go?" She wasn't sure if she was imagining things, but she could've sworn he sounded, well almost nervous. She was about to accept when she realized that going out might not be a good idea, what if she was seen?

"You don't have to you know," he commented. Abby felt horrible, she really wanted to go, but…

"Lex, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" she asked.

"Can it be done over dinner?"

"Only if you order in."

"Deal. But this better be important," he joked.

"It is, trust me."

The food came extremely fast, but then again, this was Lex Luthor; a man not accustomed to having to wait.

"So, what was so important?" he asked as he picked up a dumpling.

"I wanted to have a chance to explain things to you, my situation that is."

This caught Lex by surprise and he paused in his eating, "You don't have to. I'm aware that everyone has their secrets."

"I think that it would be better for me to tell you, I feel bad enough as it is darting around the subject all the time."

He nodded and waited for her to continue

"Well, I'm sure you're aware that I was with William for the past couple of years. There wasn't a member of the community that didn't."

"William Donaldson, his father owns the largest computer company in Metropolis. Not exactly the nicest person in the world if I remember correctly."

Abby nodded, "My parents made software, his parents made computers, it was a good match, at first anyways. Then he changed, I can't really explain it but he became so uptight and snapped at everyone too. I can't remember how many times we wound up fighting over the stupidest things, or how many times I threatened to leave. In the end he would always apologize, beg me not too and send me flowers or gifts or something. Once, he came inches away from hitting me, I remember it. We didn't speak for days, or at least I wasn't speaking to him."

"So you broke up with him," Lex said.

"I tried, he, he wouldn't let me."

"What did he do?"

"He made me so scared to go against him. I was like a child, he had complete control over me. Then, a couple months ago, I found out I was pregnant. He didn't take well to that, blamed it all on me too. I had gotten sick and medication weakens birth control, but he didn't believe me when I told him. He told me we'd just get married, and then he wouldn't be looked down upon by society. Can you believe that! He was only worried about himself."

"But you refused him."

"Of course, it took everything I had in me but I did. Then things got worse, he didn't want everyone finding out that I was pregnant with his child. He started spreading some rumor that I had slept around and that's why HE dumped ME. They bought it, but I honestly didn't care, I figured that meant he would leavee alone. But he was so paranoid; he thought I would tell someone or that I would order him to pay me child support or something or even worse, a paternity suit. So he took it upon himself to 'take care' of the situation."

"I'm not sure I follow," Lex confessed. 

"He started the fire that killed my parents, only it was supposed to kill me, not them."

"Well if you know that why don't you tell the cops?"

"He owns them, that's why I didn't want to go out tonight, he has informants and ties with everyone in this city. I step out a door and he knows where I am. He never does his own dirty work, of course. He had his men do it, set everything up. So when the police showed up they determined the cause to be a lit cigar that had never been put out. My father never once smoked in his life. So, here I am. That's about it," she said. She thought she could handle it all but her emotions were starting to get the best of her. "So now, I have to spend my time running and hiding from him. He was in Smallville looking for me, that's why I came here, I'm sorry," she finished quietly as she fought back her tears. 

Lex put down his food and moved over next to her, "It's alright," he said hesitantly putting an arm around her. She immediately fell into his embrace, finally relieving herself of the torrent of emotions that had been raging inside her all this time.

"I'll do what I can to help you, I promise."


	6. Confrontations

Finally, the final week of school is upon us!

Oh yea, and then there's that whole week of exams...

(I wanted to get this out before I have to devote all my time to studying. There may not be another chapter for a couple of weeks with Finals and Christmas coming up. If one does appear, I probably got sick of studying and decided to procrastinate for a little while. If not have a Happy Holiday!)

Thanks for the reviews!

^__^

~AM

Abby awoke to the feeling of a blanket being draped over her. She didn't bother to open her eyes, yet her senses became aware of something else. Wherever she was, she wasn't alone. Her head moved with the slight rise and fall of a chest, a chest she was laying against, a chest belonging to Lex Luthor.

She hesitantly opened one eye and took in her surroundings. They were on the couch; the Chinese food was gone from the table, cleared away by the same maid who had probably draped the blanket over them. She replayed everything in her head from last night, "I explained everything, broke down in Lex's arms, and then I don't really remember."

Abby figured she must've fallen asleep there, yet she wasn't sure why Lex was still there. One arm was wrapped around her waist, the other hung off the side of the couch. She realized she was pretty much on top of him. 

Lex woke to Abby's slight movement. He cracked open an eye and watched her with quiet amusement. It was obvious she was confused, in fact, he himself was. He wasn't sure what possessed him last night to stay with her. When she had broken down, he wasn't sure what to do. Lex was never good with emotions, especially when they were someone else's. 

"Good morning," Lex greeted her. Abby's breath caught in her throat, his voice had startled her out of her thoughts.

"Morning. I guess you didn't get to eat your dinner last night did you?" she commented, remembering the full dishes that were cleared away this morning.

"I don't mind, you'll just have to make it up to me."

Abby attempted to sit up but was forced back down by the arm on her waist, "What exactly did you have in mind?" 

Lex leaned in closely, his breath stirring her hair, Abby nearly shivered. With his voice husky he replied quietly, "Breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Breakfast," he said getting off the couch and headed upstairs.

Abby watched his retreating form, "Breakfast?"

"Breakfast."

Abby found herself standing inside a small diner. "Again, Lex you surprise me. But, where is everyone?"

For 9 o' clock in the morning, an empty diner was surprising. The wait staff seemed extremely happy to see them.

"I bought the place out for a little while. So you don't have to worry about being seen by anyone," he explained.

"Lex you didn't have to. I would have been happy with a bowl of cereal."

"Well, I wanted to. You owe me, remember?"

"Lex, that doesn't make sense. How is this paying you back?"

"It is."

Abby dropped it, she new she wasn't going to win this one. The two settled into one of the booths and ordered their food.

"So what exactly did you have planned for today?" Lex asked as he ate a bit of waffle.

"I planned to go to the hospital, I need to talk to a couple people. Then, I'm not quite sure."

"I'll drop you off at the hospital, I have some business near there. When I'm done I can swing back around and pick you up."

Abby nodded in approval.

A short while later Abby found herself alone at the Metropolis Hospital. Lex had promised to be back in an hour and would meet her in front. 

Her first stop was Dr. Xavier. He was a tall and lanky man; gray hair covered half of his head, a circular bald spot in the center and front. He wore bifocals that were constantly slipping off of his nose. He had been in the practice for years, he was always cheerful and had been nothing but help to her through everything.

"Dr. Xavier," she called from the doorway. The old man perked his head up and glanced at the door. "Abby, dear, what have you been up to? I've been worried sick, especially with that call from Smallville!" he said as he rushed over to greet her. "I'm sorry to have run off like that. I had some business to attend to."

She noticed his gaze hardened, "What did I tell you about over working yourself?"

She sighed, she loved him, and she truly did. But his lectures were worse than that of some of her teachers. "I'm sorry, won't happen again, promise."

He looked her over for a minute, "Good! Come on, I need to schedule you in for your next visit."

"About that, um, I'm thinking about leaving Metrop…"

"What? Where are you planning on going? I thought you had planned on getting an apartment here."

"I did but I changed my mind. I think I'd like to move to Smallville. I've always hated this city life you know that. I don't want my baby growing up here. I've met a lot of great people there and I think I might be happier there."

"What about William?"

"What about him?"

"Is he going with you? Does he know this?" he asked.

"Of course not, Dr. Xavier, Will and I broke up a couple weeks after I told him about the baby. Didn't you know? It was in every paper," she explained.

"Child, you didn't say anything. I don't care to read the papers, haven't got the time. When he came in here the other day looking for you…"

"He came looking for me?" she interrupted.

"Yes, it was right after I had gotten that call from Smallville. I told him that's where you were, even he didn't know why you went there."

Abby sighed, "That explains it all," she thought.

"Dr. Xavier, from now on if he ever comes in here looking for me you can't say a thing alright? I don't want him bothering me, he doesn't want this child and I intend on never letting him get near it."

"Okay, okay. I won't tell him anything. I'll give you a name of a good doctor in Smallville, okay?"

"Thank's, but I still want you to deliver, is that alright?"

"Of course, I would be delighted to."  
"Thanks, I've got to get going now. I'll give you a call when I get settled."

"Okay dear, and try not to get overworked!" he called after her as she headed down the hallway. 

Abby studied the sign in front of her as she stood at the entrance on the third floor. She looked at the office list "Dr. Wilkens P.h.d., Neurosurgeon."

"Here goes nothing." 

And that's exactly what happened, Abby's feet refused to budge, she couldn't make herself go down there. 

"Why, c'mon just go down there. The worst he can do is…I don't even want to think about it."

After about five minutes of convincing herself she finally approached the door and knocked. "Come in," came a distinctly female voice. "Can I help you?" she asked. Looking her over Abby realized she must have been another doctor, "I'm looking for Dr. Wilkens, is he around?"

"No, sorry. I'm afraid he's at a business convention. He won't be back until early next week. Is there something I can help you with?"

Abby pulled an envelope out of her bag containing copies she had made of the adoption documents. She quickly scribbled her name and number on it, "Could you see that he gets this. It's important."

The woman nodded and Abby thanked her before leaving. 

"Okay, so I'll just have to wait a little while longer. No big deal, but I better hurry, Lex should be here soon."

It was the 17th of December; people scurried about finishing up shopping and decorating for the holidays. Abby stood outside of the hospital waiting for Lex as she watched many of the people going on their way. A few inches of snow already covered the ground and more was predicted to fall.

"Where is he? He's late."

Abby leaned against the wall of the building, pulling her coat around herself tighter.

"Abby," a male voice called out. Abby turned to see not Lex, like she expected, but the last person she wished to see at the moment, "Will."

"Abigail, long time no see. You've been avoiding me, haven't you?" he teased. Abby stared him down, "Go away."

She started walking, Will grabbed her wrist preventing her from getting anywhere, "Let me go," she hissed. She didn't want to draw attention to the situation and kept her voice low. "Abigail, I've missed you I really have. I've been looking for you," he said. "So I've heard."

He pulled the sleeve of her coat up and looked at the scars, "Out of the bandages I see. You had such beautiful skin, now look at it."  
 "I wouldn't be like this if it weren't for you and you know it."

"Maybe, but if you had just suggested my offer, none of this would have happened. It still stands you know. Come back with me now and we can put all of this behind us."  
 "What so you can make up some crazy story that I came groveling to you and begged you to take me back, I doubt it. Now I suggest you let me go," she seethed. 

Will took one step closer, drawing a red lock of hair through his fingers, "Such a beautiful color, hopefully, the child will have your hair."

"And none of your personality."

He tightened his grip, "I think it's best we continue this at my place, don't you think."

"Let me go!" she said a little louder. Anyone who heard kept walking not wanting to get in the middle of a domestic dispute. 

"I think the lady asked you to let her go."

"Luthor."

"Lex!" Abby said relieved.

He stepped forward and pulled Abby's arm from his grasp moving protectively in front of her. She stood behind him, her hands holding tightly to the back of his coat.

 "Lex Luthor, how are you these days," he's said pleasantly. 

"I'm fine, although I wouldn't say the same for you."

Will nodded, "I guess I wasn't rich enough for you Abigail it seems like you're moving up in the world."  
 "It was never about money Will and you know that."

"Abby, why don't you go wait in the car," Lex suggested. Abby moved from her position and went over to the car.

"Protective of the little bitch now aren't you?" Will seethed.

Lex shook his head before letting his fist connect with Will's gut.

"If I ever see you near her again, you'll regret the day you crossed a Luthor."

Lex left him and went back to the car, "Lex, you shouldn't…"

Lex didn't let her finish, "He deserved it, now, how did things go at the hospital?"

She sighed, he was veering off the subject, but even though she wouldn't admit it, she wished it had been her that had punched him.

"It went well."

"Good, now how about we get home. I think there's some Chinese we need to finish."

She nodded as the car pulled out of the parking lot heading for the apartment.

"Lex, I've decided I want to move to Smallville."

"Really?" His face didn't show any emotion but inside he was beaming. "I'll get to see her more often," he thought. He had come to realize that he was truly enjoying being with her. His place was always so quiet, with her there he was happy to be at home. It gave him someone to talk to, someone more his age. While he enjoyed Clarks company, there was something that it lacked. "It's the fact that you're falling for her." Lex banished all those thoughts from his mind.

"I'll see if I know of any places that are available, for the time though you're more than welcome to stay with me."

"Thanks Lex, I'm sorry I've been imposing on you so much."

"You're not imposing at all. It's nice having some company once in a while."

She smiled and turned her attention out the window.

"Smallville here I come!"


	7. House Shopping

Thank you sooooooooo much to Phoebemoon!!!!!!

I had no idea the 7th chapter was even missing!!!

Thank you so much!!!!

Ok, so here's the seventh chapter, I hope this helps out!

^_^

~AM

"How about this one? Two bedroom, full bath, kitchen, new water heater, attached garage on 1.2 acres," Lex suggested.

Abby took the paper out of his hand, carefully studying the picture. "It's worth looking into. I'll put it in the 'yes' pile."

The 'no' pile greatly outweighed the 'yes' pile, and the 'maybe' was getting there.

"This one?"

"It's pink Lex!"

"Obviously, how about this one?"  
"To run down looking, I think we've covered most of them." The two were sitting in Lex's office, Lex sat on the couch while Abby sat on the floor, the coffee table serving as their workspace. 

"It's still early, we can go look at some of them. Smallville isn't that big, we could probably see most of them today."

Abby agreed and the two were on their way. It had only taken an hour before they had seen most of the houses. She had narrowed down her choices, but remembered that she still needed to look inside as well. They pulled up to the last house, Abby was out of the car before Lex could nearly stop it. 

It was perfect.

It was the one Lex had suggested, the last of her 'yes' pile. The house was two floors, as well as a basement and an attic. Sky blue blended perfectly with the white shutters and simple fence that ran around the property. The two car garage was attached, and, to Abby's thankfulness, the driveway was paved. 

Lex watched her as she approached the house. The residents had already moved out, so she knew there was no getting inside then. She'd have to wait, but settled for peaking into the windows.  "I take it you approve?"

"Of course, it's beautiful. It's perfect, let's get back to the house so I can call the realtor!" she cheerfully ordered as she jumped back in the car. 

"It'll be perfect. There's plenty of property so I can get a swingset later on and maybe even have a pool put in, with a fence of course. It's spacious enough for animals too, maybe a dog or cat or something. And the porch will need new railings, those are broken and splintered, they're not real safe and I'll probably need to put a gate up there too so the baby won't fall down the steps. I saw a nice fireplace too, which will be great in the wintertime. Don't you think so?"

Lex just laughed at her carrying on about the house. "You haven't got it yet. Don't get too excited."

"Oh I'm getting that house, just you wait and see."

On their way home, Lex made a detour. "I'm going to run these down to the post office, I figured you wouldn't mind waiting at the Talon." 

Abby headed into the Talon, spotting Lana sitting behind the counter. "Slow day?"

"Abby! How long have you been back?"

"Just a couple days. Things have been kinda crazy, sorry I didn't get here sooner. But guess what?"

"What?"  
 "I'm moving to Smallville! I just found the most perfect house. I'm on my way back to Lex's to call and see about getting an appointment with the realtor to go inside."

"That's great, so if I offer you a job here does that mean you'll take it?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course, I'd love to. It'd only be until the baby arrives though."

"Of course, but one of the girls just quit so I needed to hire someone and you already knew what you were doing," she joked.

Lex approached the two girls, "So I take it from your happy expression Lana, that Abby has already told you about the house."

"Yes and of course I'm happy. Oh and have I something to tell you!" she said dragging Abby away from Lex, "Clark asked me out," she whispered happily. "It's about time!" she said giving the girl a hug. Lex watched the two knowing what was going on. Clark had called him earlier telling him his good news. 

He checked his watch, seeing that it was time to go he let Abby know. "Here Lana, since I figured I would see you I knew there was no sense in mailing it."

  
Lana looked over the cream envelope before opening it up. "An invitation," she smiled as she read it over. "For my New Year's party. It's mainly with my business partners, employees, but some of my friends are invited as well. I'm sure we'll see you and Clark there," he joked before leading Abby out. "You knew and you didn't tell me," she said shocked. 

"I was certain Lana would tell you in time," he said. She sat down in a huff, "Well…"

"Well what?"

"Well am I invited to this little shindig of yours?"

"Of course, you're my date after all."

"And when were you going to tell me this?"

"I just did."

She shook her head at him lightly, "You're a trip, you know that."

He gave a small smile before turning back towards the road. 

As soon as she was back at the house, Abby called up the realtor and got an appointment. "I can see it tomorrow," she happily announced. "She even gave me a price, it's so cheap, well compared to Metropolis anything is cheap. But still it's a great offer, and I have my furniture and things in storage so I can have it sent over as soon as possible. Thankfully that stuff was all out before the fire."

"Why did you have it all moved out?"

"I was planning on getting an apartment in Metropolis, so I had my things moved out and I was almost finished purchasing the apartment when the fire happened. I had figured my parents weren't going to be too happy about the baby and kick me out anyway, so I figured I'd get a head start. Besides, I'm 21, it was time I got my own place," she explained. Lex nodded in understanding. "The only things I really lost were clothes and some personal things. I'm going to have to go back to Metropolis and get some shopping done for the house. I guess I'm also going to have to find a dress for this shindig of yours."

"It's not a shindig, it's a formal gathering."

"Same thing."

There was a few minutes of silence, "So what are you going to do for Christmas?" Lex asked.

"Mrs. Kent invited me over for dinner, I'm not sure though. I feel bad intruding. What about you?"

"I have to go into Metropolis and spend time with my father. You're more than welcome to come," he said.

"Thanks Lex, but I already infringe on all your free time, there's no need for me to take away family time too."

Abby's cell phone rang and Lex went back to his work.

He really did wish that she would come with him for Christmas; he knew he wouldn't be spending all that much time with his father and company was always greatly appreciated. He hated the thought of her being alone.

"I'm going to go shopping with Lana, I'll see you later."

Lana picked Abby up a short time later and the two girls drove to the mall. It was quite small, at least by Metropolis standard, but it was a mall nonetheless. 

"I have to figure out what to give Clark. What are you going to get Lex?" she asked.

I thought about that, "I hadn't really thought about buying Christmas presents. I guess I forgot about it."

Lana's face fell, "Well you got to get him something. You two are practically a couple by anyone's standards."

"What do you mean?"

"You live with him, you go out to dinner together, you guys spend all your time together and you're his date for the party."

"Where did you find out, wait, let me guess, Lex told Clark."

She nodded sheepishly, the two stopped outside of a store, "Come on, let's go look in here."

By the end of the shopping trip Abby had accrued about five bags. She got presents for the Kents, for Lex, one for Chloe as a thank-you for her help, and she even managed to get one for Lana without her noticing. She also picked up some things for herself in order to restock her wardrobe. 

Lana had just as much luck and had managed to get all of her shopping done as well. 

They stopped off at the Talon so Lana could check up on things and got some drinks for them as well. 

"So what made Clark finally come around?" Abby asked.

Lana blushed, "Who knows, it sure took a while though. He was really sweet about it too. So how did Lex ask you?"

"I'm just his date for his party, it's nothing more than that stop assuming things. Besides, he didn't even ask me. It was more of a 'You're my date for the party' thing."

Lana laughed, "But you didn't fight back, you just accepted it. So that means you liked the idea of being his date."

It was Abby's turn to blush and Lana laughed at her embarrassment. "Hi Chloe!" Lana called out as the blonde approached. "What no hi for me?" Pete asked appearing behind her. "Hi Pete," she replied. "So what have you two been up to? Abby are you still at Lex's?" Chloe asked. 

"We went and bought out the mall," Lana said.

"Um, yea, I'm still at Lex's," Abby replied quietly. Pete's eyebrow rose at the comment, "Lex's?"

"I won't be there for long, I'm looking at a house tomorrow. I decided to move out here," she explained. She figured Pete was clueless on the situation unless someone had mentioned something. 

"That's cool," Chloe commented. 

"Well, we'll be seeing you guys, we just came for one of Chloe' coffee breaks before we head back over to the Talon," Pete explained.

"It's awful late isn't it?" Abby asked. 

"Ah the life of a journalist," Chloe joked. Her and Pete said their goodbye's before taking off.

"Well, come on, I'll take you home. I got to do some wrapping and I'm sure you and Lex want to spend some 'quality time' together." 

Abby rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"Buy enough?"

Lex took a few bags from Abby and helped her take them up the stairs. "Hope you didn't forget anything," he commented. He opened the bag and peeked in. "Victoria Secret, very nice." 

"Hey! Who said you could look!" she scolded grabbing the bag from him. "Get me anything," he joked. 

"Maybe," she teased.

He smiled, "I'll be in my office most of the night if you need me," he excused himself and went back to his work.

Abby put away her things and decided to take a shower.

Lex sat in his office idly staring at his computer screen. All of his thoughts turned to Abby. He chickened out up there; he had wanted to ask her to come with him for Christmas. Lex was confused, never had he ever been this nervous asking a girl to do, well do about anything. However, there was a little more of a conflict where Abby was concerned. She's pregnant and has a murderous ex-boyfriend after her; if that wasn't a problem he didn't know what was.

A thought came to him and he picked up the phone, "Hello…Marcus, I need you to get some things for me."

Abby grabbed an apple out of the kitchen and went to Lex's office. He watched her skim through the books along the shelves. She was wearing a pair of loose gray pants and a black tank top that stopped a little short revealing the small bulge of her stomach. 

"Can I help you with something?" he asked.

"Just looking, felt like reading something," she pulled a book off of the shelf, "Geisha, A Life. Not exactly something I would expect you to have."

"I'm very well rounded," he said.

"I'm sure."

There was silence for a little while before Abby decided to break it. "So, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Just some work, packing up to go to Metropolis. My father should be coming in tomorrow too."

"Getting a personal escort back in, huh?"

"You could call it that. Why did you want to know anyways?"

"I thought maybe you could come look at the house with me. I'm not that great a businesswoman, I admit. So I kinda thought maybe you could come and help me strike a deal," she suggested. 

He smiled, "Of course, I'm happy to do anything that gets me away from work."

Book in hand she moved behind him and leaned over his shoulder looking at his work. 

"What'cha doing?"

"For a 21 year old you don't act much like one."

"And you act twice your age, you already got the speedy little sports car, that's chalking it up with mid-life crisis."

He gave a small laugh, "Yes, but when most men buy their car it's not because they can afford it, it's to compensate for what's going on in their lives. I buy them because I can afford them, quite easily at that."

"You didn't answer me."

"I'm working on the budget for the plant, I need to cut some costs without risking jobs."

"Uh-huh. Business isn't exactly my thing. I do what I can at the company but it's kinda like sports. I own the business but the coach runs the team and any big concerns come to me. But I still get help."

"That's right, you have your art. I've seen some of your pieces. They're very good."

"I haven't painted much in a while. It comes and goes," her face saddened, "Most of my works were destroyed, I was going to leave them with my parents."

Lex didn't really know what to say, "Well, you'll have to paint some new ones for your house."

The talk of her house turned her right around, "Yea, well I'm going to go to bed. We're seeing the house at nine so I got to get some sleep."

"Goodnight."


	8. Christmas Time

Hello everyone! Thanks for the review. I realize I haven't been working on this story as much as I hoped, I started a new one, but that's done and I plan to work hard on this one.

Well, enjoy!

And how shameless is the WB!? Plugging their new CD on the show itself! Tsk tsk.

^_^

~AM

With the rise of the sun Abby was up and ready, even Lex wasn't up yet. He was shocked to see her up so early.

"You must be awfully excited. I have yet to see you stir before a double digit hour, unless I was waking you up."

"Save it Lex. Nothing can bring me down today."

"So it would seem. You even made breakfast, I'm impressed."

She said nothing and ate her breakfast then hurried to get dressed. Lex was waiting for her when she came downstairs. "Ready to go?"

"Ready!"

When they pulled up to the house the realtor was waiting. At seeing Lex she seemed to fidget a little more. "Ms. Mullins, Mr. Luthor a surprise to see you. Let's look at the house shall we?"

The inside of the house was just as nice as the outside. There was a large living room, a dining room off the kitchen and a smaller room she would convert into a playroom, on the second floor was two bedrooms with a full bath in-between, another room she would make an office and plenty of storage room. The last owner had poor taste and she knew she was going to have to repaint most of the house. The attic she thought about converting into a studio. The exterior was fine though other than the few imperfections she had noticed earlier.

When they finished the realtor waited patiently, "I love it, I'll take it!" Abby could barely contain her excitement. The realtor beamed, "Well then, why don't we discuss payment so that I can get the papers to you this afternoon and that way everything can be processed and you can be in your house by New Years."

She took out some papers and handed them over to Abby. Lex took them from her hand and looked them over himself, "I'll send them to my lawyer and he'll contact you. We'll get them back to you by the end of the day."

The realtor was a little shocked at Lex getting involved but nodded in agreement. Abby thanked her and the two left.

"Lex, why did you do that? I could've handled looking over papers at least," she whined clinging to his arm. He pulled her a little closer as the wind blew, "My lawyer will look over it and send it to us with a final price you can sign them and fax them over. It'll be yours in no time," he explained. She clung tighter, jumping up and down slightly in happiness. "Okay, Talon ho!"

"What?"

"To the Talon, I want to tell Lana the news."

"It's only 11 a.m., school isn't out yet."

"Oh, yea, I guess in all my excitement I forgot."

"We can go there later, I have to get back to the mansion, I have to get things ready to go to Metropolis. Besides, my father should be here soon." _As well as something else I've got to intercept._

"Okay," she said sliding into the car.

"So, have you thought about Christmas yet? The invitation is still open you know," he told her.

"I spoke to the Kent's, I'm going to stay with them for Christmas. Besides, I promised Lana help tomorrow at the Talon. I don't want to leave her shorthanded."

"Of course, but you don't have to stay at the Kent's, you're welcome to stay here. I know they don't have too much room."

"It's okay, they already set one up for me. Don't worry, everything will be fine, I'm not going to be going over until tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be here tonight, especially since I have to get those papers."

"I know everything will be fine, I was just worried about you having to spend Christmas by yourself."

"Well, I'm not so no worries. Oh, and I hope you have wrapping paper somewhere cause I need to wrap presents."

"I don't, but I need some myself, I'll pick some up when we go into town later."

When they pulled up to the house a brown package was waiting for Lex in his office. "What is it?" she asked.

"You'll see."

When he put the package down her face fell, "Not now?"

"Sorry," he smiled.

While Lex spent the next couple hours packing and preparing his things for the meetings that were sure to come, Abby was constantly pacing the house waiting on the papers. Lex had already chased her out of the room a couple times, her antics distracting. They ate lunch together and soon after Lex' dad arrived. 

"Dad, I don't understand why you had to come in yourself. I can make the trip alright on my own."

"Well, I was afraid that if I didn't come get you myself you might change your mind about coming. I also arranged a meeting tomorrow morning, so I hope you have things ready because I would like to get back."

"Well, I promised Abby I would take her into town before I left. I'll be ready after that," Lex explained.

"Yes, I heard she was still around. I was at a shareholders meeting and Mr. Donaldson approached me. He said you beat up his son in the street, I for one don't give a crap, I can't stand that boy either, but I prefer it not be someone I know. They bring their problems to me, you're grown, and if they have problems with you they should come to you. Don't know why they bother me about it, could care less."

"I assure you, he deserved it."

"He's dating that girl isn't he?"

"Was, it's been over for a while."

"So what exactly is she still doing here? Have you taken a liking to her?"

"And if I have?"

Lionel was quiet, thinking his answer over. 

"You can do better."

"I could do worse, a lot worse."

"Perhaps. But I suggest you keep looking."

Lex decided it best not to rebuke, "As soon as I take care of things in town we can leave. Until then, make yourself at home."  _You always do anyhow._

Lionel nodded and Lex excused himself and went to get Abby. They hurried into town so as to not keep his father waiting too long. "If we time this right, we can do our thing and then head over to the Talon and catch Lana before she starts her shift," Abby said.

The two went into a small store and picked out wrapping paper for their gifts. "I didn't see any gifts lying around, what are you wrapping? Oh, is it in the box?" she asked.

"Perhaps."

"And do I know who this present is for?"  
 "Perhaps."

"You're no fun," she teased. 

Abby was right and they caught Lana just as she was heading inside. "Lana! I got the house!"

Lex watched as the two girls jumped up and down in excitement, but on the inside so was he. "Abby, we can't stay too long," he reminded.

"I know, I know. I'll just be a minute." She headed inside quickly while Lex waited in the car.

"So how did the date go?" Abby asked.

"It was good," she said. Abby raised an eyebrow, "Ok, so it was great! We had such a good time. He took me to dinner and then we saw a movie and just hung out."

"Anything else?" she teased.

"We kissed goodnight, that was it. But it was nice, farther than you've gotten with Lex," she chided.

"Lana! First off, you and Clark have had this attraction forever far as I've heard and it was bound to happen. Second, for something like that to occur between Lex and myself there would have to be more of an attraction."

"So there is an attraction though? I knew it! You like him!"

"Keep your voice down will ya! I never said anything like that."

"Oh, so he likes you."

"…"

"I knew it, well he did ask you out and he lets you live in his house and he punched out your ex for you."

"Well, yea, but he could just be plain nice."

"Lex Luthor is not plain nice. Trust me, 'nice' is not in their emotional lexicon. There's got to be a reason behind it. And it's cause he likes you," she teased.

"Ok Lana, I get it. I had better get going though, we have to get back before his dad gets mad, he wanted to leave like an hour ago. But I'll see you tomorrow for work," she said getting up and leaving.

She slid into the passenger seat, "That was a rather long minute," he said. She rolled her eyes at him. He gave a chuckle under his breath and drove off.

When they got to the house Abby bounded up the stairs to her room wrapping paper in hand. "I've got to wrap Lex's present so I can get it to him before he leaves. God, I'll feel really stupid if I don't get one. I hope this is all right. If he doesn't give me one I'll just tell him it's to thank him for letting me stay here, then I don't seem like a fool."

One half of her hoped Lana was right, her other half was pensive, drawing on the fears of her previous relationship. She wrapped the box just as she heard Lex holler for her from the bottom of the stairs. She emerged with her gift in hand and greeted him. His things had already been packed into the helicopter.

"I've got to get going now, I just wanted to say goodbye," he said. 

_'Was he nervous!?'_

"Ok, well, before you go, here. Merry Christmas," she said handing him the nicely wrapped box. A small smile appeared on his face, "Thank you."

She looked hoping he had something but he didn't, she got kind of nervous. He gave the box a shake.

"What are you five? That's what you do to tell whether you got clothes or toys," she joked.

"Then I guess I got clothes." She smiled slightly, he took her hand and pulled her down off the step she was on before giving her a hug. 

"Have a good Christmas."

"Yea, you too."

They stayed like that a little longer than necessary before Lex pulled away, "I'll call you when I get back and you can let me know how things went with the house."

"Ok, I'll talk to you then. Bye," she said.

"Bye," he said starting to turn away , then quickly changing his mind he turned back and planted a small kiss on her cheek.

She looked up startled until she saw that he was looking up. She followed his gaze and she broke out in a grin. 

Mistletoe.

Lex smiled and left, a few minutes later Abby could hear the whir of the helicopter as it took off. She shook her head to clear it then headed up to her room to finish packing.

"Abby, over here!"

Abby followed the voice until she saw Lana pop up from behind the counter. "Glad you made it."

"I promised I would. I had a hell of a time getting here. As soon as Lex left yesterday I had his employees leave, I didn't want them to stay any longer than necessary. Well I totally forgot that by sending home the driver I didn't have a ride anywhere. So Mr. Kent gave me a ride and I gave him my stuff."

"Well, I'm glad you were able to get here. Now, let's get to work!"

Abby sighed; Lana had too much stamina when it came to working. She was always running about but it never seemed to faze her, she always seemed to have as much energy as when she started. "I guess that's what happens when you work in a coffee house all day." 

It was days like these that she wished she could drink her caffeine, decaf did nothing for her only gave her the slight pleasure of having her morning coffee, a tradition she wasn't about to break.  

When they closed up, Clark pulled up in his truck and came in and offered a hand. Him and Lana were a little occupied with each other before Abby was able to tear him away so they could get going. 

Upon reaching the house Abby took a shower and retired much earlier than usual. Yesterday had been a long day. As soon as she got the papers she had to call her bank and arrange for the money to be sent to the realtor and then she had to arrange to have her things sent from storage. It had been to late to get a hold of the storage company and a moving company so she wasn't going to be able to call for a few days. After all that she had packed up most of her things leaving out what she would need the remainder of the time.

At times her hand would wander up to her cheek where Lex had kissed her but she would just shake her head and tell herself to quit it. Tomorrow was Christmas and she looked forward to it. She would spend the morning with the Kent's and then in the afternoon she planned to go to Chloe's to see her and Lana and give them their gifts. Then it was back to the Kent's for dinner. She regretted not getting to see Lex for Christmas even after he had been a bit persistent on coming along with him. A Luthor Family Christmas was not one she was ready to be a part of.

"Abby, wake up!"

She rolled over in the bed and put the pillow over her head. "Waszztimizit?" she mumbled

 "Seven, now get up, it's Christmas," Clark told her laughing at the bundle in the middle of the bed.

"To bad. It's not going anywhere, it can wait!"

He came into the room and half dragged her out of the bed. "I swear, you and Lex, don't you people ever let anyone sleep," she grumbled.

"C'mon, breakfast is ready and then we open presents."

_He's like a little kid, it's so cute, I see what Lana likes about him._

"Fine, I'm coming. Let me get dressed," she said pushing him out of the room.

She emerged a few minutes later and joined the Kent's who were already waiting for her to begin.

As soon as breakfast was done and cleared, the four sat in the livingroom around the tree. Abby had wrapped and added her presents the night before and was surprised to see a stack for her as well. She opened her presents from the Kent's, a few things for her house and some things for the baby as well. She had gotten Mr. Kent a tool set, for Mrs. Kent a sweater, and for Clark a gift certificate to the record shop. She looked at the last few boxes that were for her, all labeled 'From Santa.' The wrapping paper didn't match the others so she wondered who they came from.

She opened one that was labeled 'one' as they had an order to them. She opened the first and let out a gasp before pulling it up and looking at it fully. 

It was a dress, "Santa has expensive taste," she noted. It was emerald green and came to just below her knees; it was strapless and had a small slit along the one leg. Mrs. Kent gasped at the dress as well and held it while Abby went through the other boxes. Number two was a pair of shoes; they were silver, with thin heels, but only about an inch. The third was a necklace and earrings, both emeralds to wear with the dress. She finally noticed a card that had been attached to the boxes.

_Abby~_

_For the New Year's Party._

_Merry Christmas._

_L .Luthor_

A smile crossed her face he had gotten her something! "And I only got him a sweater."


End file.
